Shallow temperature inversions in the Pacific Ocean near Japan

The statistical properties of shallow temperature inversions in the Pacific Ocean near Japan were investigated using data obtained from. BT observations. In the sea east of Honshu, the Kuroshio front forms the southern boundary of the area where temperature inversions are abundant. Though the occurrence frequency of the temperature inversion layers is very low in the sea south of Honshu, the path of the Kuroshio influences its regional distribution in this region also, and the high occurrence area shifts offshore when the large cold water mass is present off Enshu-nada. The magnitude of the inversion temperature differences in the sea south of Honshu is considerably smaller than that in the sea east of Honshu. The magnitude of inversion thickness has a clear tendency to increase from south to north in the sea east of Honshu, reflecting the higher occurrence frequency of large-scale thick inversion layers in the northern part under the influence of the sub-arctic water mass. The frequency distribution of the inversion thickness in each sub-region (1° square area) in the sea south of Honshu is very similar to that in the region just south of the Kuroshio front in the sea east of Honshu, suggesting that the inversion layers may be generated by similar mechanisms in the sea south of the Kuroshio front.